Kids Ask Dumb Questions

Image by John_X via Flickr

My younger son is the 'why?' kid. He always has to know why, when, where, how, who... you get the picture. The fact that he professes to not be able to share any of this knowledge on paper mystifies me. But that's not really the thing right now. We don't start school until next week.

I have a tough time communicating with this one, because he is very precise (Concrete Sequential, Cynthia Tobias would say) and I am oh so random. When I send him to fetch something, I have to be able to tell him exactly where it is and what it is, or he comes back empty-handed. And yelling 'just LOOK for it' causes such a look of complete horror that I instantly feel like I've just kicked a puppy. Sigh. It's been good for me, as I have had to really work on paying attention to how I say things and seeing things from his point of view.

Of course, today was a kicker. I was building a wall on a loafing shed for my horses (a loafing shed is a 2 or 3 sided shelter that the horses freely wander in and out of in a paddock or pasture) when my son very casually asked me: "Are those yellow jackets, or hornets." I answered, "I dunno, where?" while looking around a little, but mostly focused on my job. He said, "Over your head."

I look up to see about 6 pissed off paper hornets coming off the nest they're building in the rafters of 'my' shed!!

Of course I did what any sensible woman would do... Haul butt out of there!

I have to say my kid is pretty smart, though, or at least has a great sense of self preservation. When he saw me running, he didn't ask any questions (for once) he took off too!

I have to say I'm proud to be as fast as my 10-year-old son, even in my workboots and wearing a toolbelt with a hammer wailing away on the back of my thighs with every step. There's nothing like the proper motivation. And I don't care what the kid says, I did NOT shoulder him into the barn wall!

So you see, it's not that kids ask questions, it's the type of questions they ask. Of course, "Did you know there's a paper wasp nest over your head?" would have gotten the same reaction, so what does it really matter anyway?


Of course, my question for the day, and my whole family is professing innocence on this one: Why are there firecrackers in my toolbelt pockets?